On March 3, 1815, the United States Congress declared war on the Regency of Algiers, marking the beginning of the Second Barbary War. Algiers, a North African state based in present-day Algeria, had been capturing American merchant ships and demanding tribute for safe passage in the Mediterranean. The U.S. Navy, fresh from the War of 1812, dispatched a squadron under Commodore Stephen Decatur to the Mediterranean to end the practice. Decatur's swift actions forced Algiers to agree to a treaty in June 1815, securing American shipping rights and ending tribute payments.

The Barbary Wars, including the 1815 campaign, became symbols of American resolve and maritime prowess in early American poetry and naval ballads. The conflict inspired patriotic verses that celebrated the young nation's ability to project power abroad, reinforcing themes of liberty against tyranny. Writers like James Fenimore Cooper, who served in the U.S. Navy, later drew upon these Mediterranean campaigns in his sea novels, helping to establish a distinctly American maritime literary tradition.